Metro Times Readers Sound Off

Letters about medicinal marijuana, U-M salaries and more.

When presidents of major universities, like at the University of Michigan, have salaries larger than President Obama’s — Mary Sue Coleman, who is paid more than $600,000 yearly, comes to mind, and students are locking themselves into thousands of dollars in loans to get a bachelor’s degree — we have a problem.

It’s not that Mary Sue Coleman is a bad university president — she is probably one of the best leaders U-M has ever had — but why does she need a salary of $600,000-plus? I don’t get it. (President Obama is allocated $500,000, annually; he may not be collecting all of that because he has a lot of income from his books.)

My eldest son says, “Costs of college are peanuts when you take a look at what professional athletes earn.” For example, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander is paid more than $20,000,000 per year. That is outrageous!

I am a longtime university instructor and I get upset when I see how much undergrads have to pay for a college degree. (The price of textbooks, alone, is mindboggling.)

Margaret R. Bennett

Ann Arbor, Dec. 19, 2013

The writer is a retired adjunct professor in the Computer Information Systems Department of Washtenaw Community College.

Old is New Again

Dear Editor:

I ran across an old poem written by Detroit poet Andrew Wanless in 1885 that reads:

“Detroit lights! We have no lights at all,

Ye pretty maidens watch at night your feet,

Beware of holes and gutters in the street.

Yes, better far, at night, oh do not roam,

But read your book and stay secure at home.”

Happy New Year, and lift a “Fenderbender” to Dwayne X. Riley.

Joe Neussendorfer

Livonia, Dec. 19, 2013

Digital Feedback ...

•Commenting online on the story “Girding for a Fight”; [News, Dec. 18-24, 2013] …

— Reader Detroit Dude wrote: The best rape insurance is a handgun.

— Reader Amyrlin wrote: If a woman [were] raped, why would you force her to have a child? Because that is what you are doing. Don’t think about that child that you are forcing her to have — the kind of life that child will be forced to endure — because you think that your beliefs should be everyone’s beliefs.

•Commenting online on the story “Screwing Us Over (Regarding ‘Rape Insurance’)”; [Politics and Prejudices, Dec. 18-24, 2013] …

— Reader Stradlin Izzy wrote: If you want to kill babies — that is your position — then just say so. Don’t try and hide that fact by tiptoeing around the subject …

— Reader nobsartists wrote: What if cannabis was not labeled an “intoxicant” like alcohol or grouped in with heroin? Better yet, what would it be like if we prevented racists from holding public office?

— Reader Michigan Compassion wrote: Thank you, Larry, for telling Alysa’s story, I have tried so many times to get the Free Press to write about it and they would rather cover magic buses and bongs.

Erratum

In the Higher Ground column “Canonization of Medical Marijuana,” [Vol. 34 No. 10; Dec. 18-24, 2013] the subject of the article, Alysa Erwin, was incorrectly identified as 4 years old when she first began using cannabis oil to treat her brain cancer. In fact, Ms. Erwin was 14 years old. We regret the error.Equality for All?

Dear Editor:

When presidents of major universities, like at the University of Michigan, have salaries larger than President Obama’s — Mary Sue Coleman, who is paid more than $600,000 yearly, comes to mind, and students are locking themselves into thousands of dollars in loans to get a bachelor’s degree — we have a problem.

It’s not that Mary Sue Coleman is a bad university president — she is probably one of the best leaders U-M has ever had — but why does she need a salary of $600,000-plus? I don’t get it. (President Obama is allocated $500,000, annually; he may not be collecting all of that because he has a lot of income from his books.)

My eldest son says, “Costs of college are peanuts when you take a look at what professional athletes earn.” For example, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander is paid more than $20,000,000 per year. That is outrageous!

I am a longtime university instructor and I get upset when I see how much undergrads have to pay for a college degree. (The price of textbooks, alone, is mindboggling.)

Margaret R. Bennett

Ann Arbor, Dec. 19, 2013

The writer is a retired adjunct professor in the Computer Information Systems Department of Washtenaw Community College.

Old is New Again

Dear Editor:

I ran across an old poem written by Detroit poet Andrew Wanless in 1885 that reads:

“Detroit lights! We have no lights at all,

Ye pretty maidens watch at night your feet,

Beware of holes and gutters in the street.

Yes, better far, at night, oh do not roam,

But read your book and stay secure at home.”

Happy New Year, and lift a “Fenderbender” to Dwayne X. Riley.

Joe Neussendorfer

Livonia, Dec. 19, 2013

Digital Feedback ...

•Commenting online on the story “Girding for a Fight”; [News, Dec. 18-24, 2013] …

— Reader Detroit Dude wrote: The best rape insurance is a handgun.

— Reader Amyrlin wrote: If a woman [were] raped, why would you force her to have a child? Because that is what you are doing. Don’t think about that child that you are forcing her to have — the kind of life that child will be forced to endure — because you think that your beliefs should be everyone’s beliefs.

•Commenting online on the story “Screwing Us Over (Regarding ‘Rape Insurance’)”; [Politics and Prejudices, Dec. 18-24, 2013] …

— Reader Stradlin Izzy wrote: If you want to kill babies — that is your position — then just say so. Don’t try and hide that fact by tiptoeing around the subject …

— Reader nobsartists wrote: What if cannabis was not labeled an “intoxicant” like alcohol or grouped in with heroin? Better yet, what would it be like if we prevented racists from holding public office?

— Reader Michigan Compassion wrote: Thank you, Larry, for telling Alysa’s story, I have tried so many times to get the Free Press to write about it and they would rather cover magic buses and bongs.

Erratum

In the Higher Ground column “Canonization of Medical Marijuana,” [Vol. 34 No. 10; Dec. 18-24, 2013] the subject of the article, Alysa Erwin, was incorrectly identified as 4 years old when she first began using cannabis oil to treat her brain cancer. In fact, Ms. Erwin was 14 years old. We regret the error.